Along the river and toward the mountains a morning shadow shimmers across the road. The rays of the first light jet through the trees and across a figure gliding upon the road. His breath trails in short spurts, petrified as it hits the icy air. All is quiet except the slight sound of the athlete as he summons himself for yet another days work. Soon the rest of the world will bustle with life as well and the brief simplicity of cyclist and nature will disappear into the everyday struggle of life in full motion; the errands and intervals, the appointments and intersections, and the deadlines and finish lines OutPaceTheRace

Thursday, November 30, 2006

Welcome to Hawaii...

Kapaa, HI to North Bend, WAWednesday, November 29, 2006 to Thursday, November 30, 2006

What’s up with tourists and going to Hawaii and saying “Aloha” and “Mahalo” like they actually respect the culture? Who goes to Hawaii to respect the culture? I don’t, so don’t say aloha to me. Here, I’ll let you in on a little secret… when you walk into a store and a Hawaiian says “aloha,” they’re not saying welcome, they’re saying “oh, another tourist. Thanks for coming to Hawaii and taking my land, I really appreciate it. Now buy something and get the -edit- out of here! Mahalo…” So why do you tourists walk by me and say aloha like you genuinely respect their culture? You don’t, all you want is your selfish little vacation on their quaint little stretch of tropical island, and a piece of their overpriced pineapple dessert. So don’t bore me with you’re drawl about respecting culture. When I go to Hawaii the only thing I care about is my selfish desire to make my life better, that’s it. As for the Superferry to Kauai and the new Costco there… let’s rock this party… I’ll take the Superferry over to live in the Costco while all the Hawaiians are employed there.I guess you probably miss my point. The point is that tourism in Hawaii does more for Hawaii than Microsoft does for the world. Any Hawaiian on property is permanently set for life and the rest of ‘em are living on a reservation called paradise. Oh, and by the way, yes, both congress and the territory have to approve state status before the US goes “show boat’n in…” to give life to an otherwise lifeless people.Disclaimer: No I don’t have a problem with Hawaiians, and no I’m not racist to Hawaiians or anyone else. Hawaiians are the same to me as anyone. However, if you visit Washington I’m not going to look at you like you just walked onto a space station and you’re not green… I’m going to look at you like you’re from the US. Whatever happened to equality? Oh yeah, I almost forgot, it only goes one way!